Adam Culp talks about the awesome namebadges at the OpenWest conference, and how assembly was required using a soldering iron. Then shares symptoms, causes, and treatment for over-training while running. (mentions Tension Tamer tea, but intended to speak about Sleepy Time tea instead) Following this the subject of developers and money was covered. What should developers charge per hour, what should a freelance developer pay themselves, and what should developers do to save money for a rainy day.

php[architect] magazine has just released their January 2015 issue - "Be The Boss". This issue includes articles talking about freelancing, the importance of communication in open source and the usual columns.

This month is a personal favorite of mine, as the theme is “Be the Boss”. It speaks to those who wish stop working as an employee and strike out on there own, something I’ve done twice in my life. In Get Off the Freelance Roller Coaster!, Yitzchok Willroth (@coderabbi) talks on the importance of not placing all of your eggs in one basket (or projects with one vendor). In Choose Your Own Adventure—Freelancer or Founder?, Joshua Warren talks about the two avenues that are open to those going it on their own, freelancer or business founder.

Articles in this month's edition include:

Get Off the Freelance Roller Coaster! (Yitzchok Willroth)

Choose Your Own Adventure - Freelancer or Founder? (Joshua Warren)

PHP and OS Communication (Julien Pauli)

An Introduction to NodeJS

The usual columns (Laravel Tips and Education Station) return once again as well as a a new one from David Stockton called "Leveling Up" to help you become a better developer. You can pick up your own copy from the php[architect] website.

Cal Evans has started up a new series of posts to his blog today, flipping things over from the usual developer-centric perspective most people take and looking at the client instead. In this first part of the series he looks at the first of six ways you can be a better client to your freelance developer.

You and you alone are the vision keeper for your project. You have to convey the problem that needs to be solved without specifying how it is to be solved. Work with your developer to make sure they understand you as you describe the problem. [...] Don’t assume that the developer will understand industry jargon or acronyms. Just because it’s clear to you doesn’t mean that it is clear to them.

Communication is a huge key when dealing with any developers, freelance or not and Cal's suggests that not only is everything laid out clearly, but there's also no stone unturned on things like features and goals for the project.

The Freelance PHP Developer will participate in development efforts on projects for external clients. He or she will work with the account team, interaction designers, and graphic designers to design and build interactive solutions for clients. He or she will be responsible for working on the software design as well as building, testing, debugging and troubleshooting programs and scripts for various functions, and modifying existing code to add new features.

Requirements/Qualifications:

5+ years of development experience

The ideal candidate should have experience creating highly trafficked websites

Experience with Object Oriented Programming in general but preferably Java

Strong PHP experience, specifically with PHP 5

Overall experience with LAMP and open source in general

Good database skills and the ability to create and reverse engineer an ERD

Experience with mySQL 5 and other RDBMS preferably Oracle or MS SQL Server

Strong CMS experience with systems such as Alfresco, Interwoven, Documentum or Drupal

Strong CMS Workflow experience

Experience writing web services

Experience creating REST based architectures

Experience using PHP Frameworks like Kohana

Experience creating applications from the ground up

Back-end development - Everything is processed at the application layer so they will not be writing Stored Procedures but must understand relational database concepts

Experience in an Agile development environment - the product development is more of a waterfall environment

Experience mentoring other developers

Must have excellent problem solving skills and love technical challenges

Must be self-motivated, and able to multi-task

Must be able to take initiative to be productive and efficient

B.S./M.Sc.Computer Science or equivalent experience

Consulting experience a big plus

The duration of this engagement is 3-4 months, with the potential for extension

Our client is located in Manhattan and this person will need to be able to work at the client site with team members 90% of the time

Local candidates only

HUGE is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We strongly support diversity in the workforce.

HUGE is a leading interactive agency that specializes in building sustainable online businesses for some of the smartest and most demanding companies in the world. Founded in 1999, HUGE has developed a unique methodology and culture that combines the most relevant aspects of research, design, marketing and technology to meet client objectives. The online businesses designed and developed by HUGE generate over $8.3 billion in online revenue a year and are visited by over 150 million unique visitors a month. HUGE is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY with offices in Los Angeles, Portland and London. The company is jointly owned by its operating partners and Interpublic Group. Clients include IKEA, JetBlue Airways, Walt Disney Company, iVillage, Time Inc., Target and CNN.

The Developer Tutorials Blog has a few helpful hints about getting yourself a freelance PHP job posted today:

The problem with PHP is this: in years gone by it was typically seen as an amateur, hobbyist language. The state of the language at the time didn't exactly either. [...] As a result, many (if not most) of the freelance PHP jobs out there today involve maintaining this code of yesteryear. It's mostly PHP 4, no OOP, terrible coding standards, no thought for best practices and so on.

The list reads more like a "back to fundamentals" listing - three things: practice, advertise and reach out. No tips about fancy resume or making the power moves to climb up and over the competition - it's just the basics of what you need to get started and get your foot wedged firmly in the door.

For a lot of developers, just finding good resources to look for a job is half the challenge. Sure, there's the bigguys, but what if you need something a little more focused? The Developer Tutorials blog has a few suggestions you can try.

Many position-based boards are full of employers who donâ€™t understand the value of quality code. [...] There are really only two ways to find a decent PHP job, then: find freelance projects from clients that will pay for your expertise, or get a full time job. Here are some good destinations for each.

The Zend Developer Zone has posted some information about some freelancing work that the International Press Association is looking to have done.

If you’ve got spare cycles and want to help a brother out, read on. I received this from Leonard Rapoport of the International Press Association, (Disclaimer: Zend is a member of the IPA) The IPA is looking for some help. As you can see from the email below, they need a PHP programmer to help them out on some small projects and know of some larger projects they could turn you on it.

Any interested parties should contact Leonard via email and get things started.

The Zend Developer Zone has posted some information about some freelancing work that the International Press Association is looking to have done.

If you’ve got spare cycles and want to help a brother out, read on. I received this from Leonard Rapoport of the International Press Association, (Disclaimer: Zend is a member of the IPA) The IPA is looking for some help. As you can see from the email below, they need a PHP programmer to help them out on some small projects and know of some larger projects they could turn you on it.

Any interested parties should contact Leonard via email and get things started.

According to this post on Freelancejob.com.au, the results of a statistical analysis of the job postings from getafreelancer.com show a huge surge of PHP jobs being posted.

According to statistical analysis of the 27750 freelance projects on getafreelancer.com site most wanted types of job are PHP (40% of all projects), Web Design (31%), Graphic Design (16%) and Flash (14%).

They provide both the table of the stats generated and a graph clearly showing that PHP jobs are head and shoulders above the rest.

According to this post on Freelancejob.com.au, the results of a statistical analysis of the job postings from getafreelancer.com show a huge surge of PHP jobs being posted.

According to statistical analysis of the 27750 freelance projects on getafreelancer.com site most wanted types of job are PHP (40% of all projects), Web Design (31%), Graphic Design (16%) and Flash (14%).

They provide both the table of the stats generated and a graph clearly showing that PHP jobs are head and shoulders above the rest.